Cubs position player pitchers: Chris Gimenez

The Cubs had struggled early in 2018, but a 16-7 run from May 27 to June 20 had put them into a first-place tie with the Brewers at 42-29.

Then they went on a disastrous road trip to Cincinnati and Los Angeles where they lost six of eight.

The third of those games was against the Reds at GABP, and the Cubs didn’t get good pitching at all. Luke Farrell, who made 20 appearances for the Cubs in 2018, started this game, one of just two starts he made for the team that year. It did not go well. Farrell was pulled after allowing three runs in 2.2 innings, and Brian Duensing came in and made things worse by allowing the first five batters he faced to reach base. The last of those was Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani, who hit a grand slam, putting the Reds ahead 8-1.

Rob Zastryzny (he seems to be appearing in a lot of these articles!), Anthony Bass and Steve Cishek threw a scoreless inning each, and Ben Zobrist homered in the sixth to make it 8-2.

Again, this is not a situation where a team could bring in a position player to pitch today, as a team has to be up by eight runs. But Joe Maddon wanted to save his bullpen, so backup catcher Chris Gimenez was sent to the mound to pitch the bottom of the eighth with the score still 8-2.

Gimenez had started the season in Triple-A Iowa and wasn’t added to the MLB roster until May 26, when the team optioned Victor Caratini to Iowa. Gimenez had played in nine games behind the plate, starting seven of them, and gone 3-for-23 before his pitching appearance in this game.

It did not start well. Brandon Dixon singled and Gimenez walked Billy Hamilton — something pretty difficult to do even for a position player pitcher. But then Gimenez retired the next two Reds.

Up stepped Joey Votto. You can guess what happened [VIDEO].

That was one of 50 home runs Votto hit against the Cubs in his career, his most against any team. He is one of just 13 players in MLB history to homer 50 or more times against the Cubs. Here’s the entire list: